Alonso and Russell lead applause for ‘mega’ ex-F1 racer Kubica after Le Mans triumph

Fernando Alonso and George Russell were quick to praise Robert Kubica’s efforts in the wake of the Canadian Grand Prix, as the Polish driver and his fellow team mates took victory in the famous Le Mans 24 Hours while the F1 were stars were racing in Montreal.

Kubica, Phil Hanson and Yifei Ye won in the satellite #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P LMH, with the former F1 star completing a mighty final stint to ensure victory for his team. He completed the final 59 laps without a functioning drinks bottle, and was behind the steering wheel for 43% of the race.

While Kubica’s F1 career never reached the heights it once seemed destined to following a horrific 2011 rallying crash, winning the illustrious Le Mans is just reward for a driver once described by Fernando Alonso as “the best” he’d faced.

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His win at Le Mans follows that of Alonso himself, who triumphed back in 2018 and 2019 when he took a hiatus from F1 racing. And the Spaniard was swift to congratulate his former rival on social media.

“Bravo Robert,” Alonso posted, with Russell – fresh from triumphing in Canada – adding his own praise.

“Congrats mate on winning Le Mans, so happy for you!!” Russell wrote on social media. The British star was Kubica’s team mate at Williams when the Pole attempted an F1 comeback in 2019 following his rally crash, which severely injured his right arm.

Kubica’s career has always been one of huge highs and crushing lows. He suffered a shocking crash in Canada in 2007 when driving for BMW, before going on to win that race the following season – which ended up being his only F1 victory.

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So, it seemed apt that his Le Mans win coincided with the Canadian Grand Prix, and that his last team mate in F1 managed to take the win in Montreal.

Winning Le Mans in a Ferrari is especially poetic for Kubica, who reportedly had a contract to join the Scuderia in 2012 – only for his rallying crash to end put paid to his Ferrari F1 dreams.

“An all time moment for Robert Kubica,” F1 commentator Alex Jacques wrote, echoing the sentiments of many. “His dreams of racing for Ferrari in F1 were dashed by a horror crash which would have ended most careers, a lost LMP2 win on the last lap in ’21 added more heartbreak, today a comeback for the ages is complete. Congrats to the whole #83 entry”.

Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur knows Kubica well from their time together at Alfa Romeo when Kubica was the team’s reserve driver, and was another who wanted to take the opportunity to pay tribute to the popular racer.

“I have a close relationship with Robert, he stayed with me a couple of years at Alfa Romeo and before in F3 Formula Renault,” Vasseur explained after the Canadian Grand Prix.

“For me, he’s an extra-terrestrial. What he’s doing is mega and to win in Le Mans in this situation and to be the leader of the car, to [lead] the team, it’s something that I can’t imagine.

“I’m very, very pleased for Robert. He had a chaotic career in motorsport, and when you see the level of effort that he put into his career, I’m very, very pleased for him to have this kind of result today.”